RSU 21 grappling with building needs

KENNEBUNK — As two RSU 21 building projects take a step forward, another has been thrown a curve ball.

Jennifer Feals

KENNEBUNK — As two RSU 21 building projects take a step forward, another has been thrown a curve ball.

With the RSU 21 budget recently approved, voters are keeping a keen eye, turning their attention to the renovations to Kennebunk High School, Kennebunkport Consolidated School and Mildred L. Day School, lighting up social media sites with discussion about what the final price tag might be and concern over what it might do to their pocketbooks.

On June 14, the RSU 21 Facilities Committee will review the plans for Kennebunk High School, which include a performing arts center and pool. Plans for Kennebunkport Consolidated School will also be discussed, as well as those for Mildred L. Day School, which are being reexamined after an engineering study revealed that a wing of the building known to have settled since construction is continuing to sink, raising concerns about abutting renovations.

The M.L. Day Building Committee is now grappling with whether to continue with renovations on the site, originally proposed at $4 million, or consolidating the two elementary schools and building new.

"We have to make sure that we understand what the community really feels is most important to them," said building committee member and RSU 21 Director Maureen King. "Is it having their own building, or is it having a new building, where we put our money into a single building that could serve all their needs?"

Dolloff said when discussions of school renovations began, it was clear that having a school in each community was the more expensive option in terms of construction costs.

"But because of the likelihood of communities wanting to keep their schools open, that was the path that the board and administration felt was the most likely path to be approved," Dolloff said. "So that's the path we've been following. With this new information, we may need to step back and go to the community and say do we still feel that's the best option."

The M.L. Day Building Committee is meeting again June 6 to continue discussing how to best move forward. The committee has tasked architects with taking plans already designed for Consolidated School and attaching those designs to a classroom wing at M.L. Day that has not raised concerns of sinking.

As options are explored, the project price tag is up in the air.

"Because we've been thrown a new curve ball, I don't know what the price tag is going to be and that is one of the questions we're asking. If you attach this structure, what would it cost?" King said.

In June, the Facilities Committee will take its first look at the most recent plans for Kennebunk High School, currently estimated at $48 million for renovation of the school building. The plan includes construction of the Southern Maine Center for Visual and Performing Arts and a six-lane diving pool — both to be privately funded.

The KHS Building Committee voted May 22 to adopt the current KHS proposal and bring it forward to the Facilities Committee.

KHS Building Committee members said during that meeting that they are comfortable with the plan, which provides options for either the 900-seat theater or the pool to be removed if fundraising is not successful, or constructed at a later date.

"This plan gives us options. I'm really very comfortable with it," said committee member Jack Reetz. "My first goal, however, is education and we've now got the basic option that addresses just that need."

The cost for the theater and pool have not been determined, said Superintendent Andrew Dolloff, though the theater has been discussed at $20 million. For the pool, Dolloff said, there would also need to be a fund for ongoing operation costs.

Architects could have more concrete cost estimates for the June 14 meeting, he said.

"A lot of different ideas have come in and in order for this school to be everything it can be, we have to let those ideas be explored and vetted," said Dolloff. "There are some people saying 'that's crazy, you'll never build anything of that magnitude.' A part of me steps back and says nothing of that magnitude was ever built without someone dreaming about it first. We will get to a point where we know that we have the right project. In the end, that's what I want is the best project for KHS and the students who will attend. It will be a tremendous asset for this community."

Dolloff said fundraising for the pool and theater will begin privately and that there are community members who have expressed interest in supporting a community pool that could provide space for youth swim clubs, adult and elderly recreation programs, and more.

"To even talk about those types of numbers is foreign to me, however, fortunately we are working with some folks for whom those numbers are more palatable," he said. "I don't know what the likelihood is, but I'm willing to chase it down and find out. If in the end it's not, then we have a fallback position of a beautiful high school proper with appropriate athletic and arts spaces."

Also coming before the Facilities Committee on June 15 is a conceptual design for renovations to Kennebunkport's Consolidated School. While the project was initially estimated at $4.5 million, the current estimate is $9.5 million, Dolloff said, and includes renovations to the school footprint as well as a new gym and library.

"The Facilities Committee is going to have to make some recommendation to the board (of directors)," Dolloff said. "Are they moving forward or are they going to scale back to the $4.5 million that was originally discussed for that project?"

With the renovation projects still in the conceptual stages, Dolloff said when they will be taken to the voters has yet to be determined.

"It's either November or January. Both of those dates are being considered," he said. "People want to see this get to referendum. They want to see the right project get to referendum and that's the key."

With complex issues like cost sharing and the potential withdrawal of Arundel and then Kennebunkport settled for the time being, both of which could have had an impact on the building projects, Dolloff said the building projects are able to move forward more swiftly.

"This has been a long, drawn out process because of the complexities in the district," he said. "We had to work through those issues and now we're making progress."

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